October 2015 - Mayer Brown Supports National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Businesses today face a pivotal moment with respect to cybersecurity. The threat to their bottom lines is greater than ever as breaches continue to grow in scale and sophistication, regulators crowd the field with an expanding array of rules and de facto standards, litigation remains perilous, and the prospect of significant action from Congress is uncertain. Now, more than ever, businesses must think strategically about the cyber threats they face—whether to consumer or employee information, intellectual property, or product safety—and take practical steps to address associated business, legal and reputational risks.

As General Counsel of the US National Security Agency and in prior roles in the White House, Department of Justice and United States Senate, I witnessed first-hand the harm that cyber attacks can inflict on both national security and business interests. Now, as a partner at Mayer Brown, I am proud to lead a team of Cybersecurity & Data Privacy lawyers who provide strategic advice and practical thinking for businesses grappling with such attacks. While the range of complex cybersecurity and data privacy issues for which we provide counsel is broad—from board governance, supply chain and vendor management, and regulatory compliance to data breach preparation, response and litigation—our top priority remains simple: to help clients safeguard their businesses, both proactively and in the event of legal or regulatory challenges following a cyber intrusion.

The upcoming National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) provides businesses an opportunity both to build awareness within their organizations of the cyber threats they face and to assess their ability to respond to those threats. To advance those conversations, we will participate in a series of activities in October that offer incisive thinking on cybersecurity issues from a broad range of perspectives. As a 2015 NCSAM Champion, we hope you will be able to join us for some or all of the upcoming programs, some of which are listed below. Additional program information and thought leadership, including our new guide, Preparing For and Responding To a Computer Security Incident, will be circulated throughout the month.

Regards,
Raj De

October Events

• October 1: Cybersecurity for Colleges and Universities: The Importance of Creating an Information Security Program – a presentation by Charles Harris and Laura Hammargren at Northern Illinois University for the school’s administrators and office of general counsel.
• October 2: 2015 Organization For International Investment (OFII): General Counsel Conference – Marcus Christian will participate in a panel discussion on Cybersecurity and Data Privacy. View Details >>
• October 5-6: American Conference Institute: Cyber Security & Data Privacy and Protection – Jeffrey Taft will lead a tabletop exercise with different breach scenarios and within various departments. View Details >>
• October 8-9: Northwestern Law's 54th Annual Corporate Counsel Institute – Raj De and Frederick Thomas will participate in a panel on “Interacting with the Board on Cybersecurity.” View Details >>
• October 9: Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc., 15th Annual Legislative & Regulatory Conference – Marcus Christian will participate in a panel discussion on Cybersecurity and Data Privacy. 
• October 12: Cloud Computing for Financial Institutions: Adopting Cloud Computing Solutions in a Regulated Environment – Mark Prinsley will chair a discussion covering the key issues that typically come up in a negotiation between a cloud service provider and a financial institution. View Details >>
• October 21: Contracting for Cybersecurity and Privacy Protections – Teleconference program with Brad Peterson and Paul Roy. View Details >>
• October 26: CIO Cybersecurity Forum with NASDAQ and Team8 – Raj De will speak at a forum exploring the successes and challenges of executives at the forefront of cyber innovation.
• October 29: Global Financial Markets Initiative – Teleconference on Cybersecurity & Data Privacy in the Financial Services Industry.
• October 29-30: Outsourcing 2015 – At this PLI event “Outsourcing 2015: Sourcing Critical Services”, Rebecca Eisner will present “Privacy and Data Security” and Brad Peterson will present “The Outsourcing process.” View Details >>
• October 30: Hot Topics in Life Sciences Law – Raj De will participate in a symposium to explore emerging cybersecurity trends impacting the life sciences industry. View Details >>